Author: GingerlyPolished

Affordable nail polish + makeup blogger

Glam Polish ‘Cutest Crellies’ Collection (5 Shades) – Swatches & Review

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It’s another month, and another Glam Polish release! Yes they release a lot of polishes, there’s always a lot to talk about, I’m glad I can at least show you some swatches to help you out with some decisions here. Your Glam Polish guide (for 5 of the shades). So let’s just talk about this one already!

This newest release is the ‘Cutest Crellies’ collection and it features 10 new crelly shades, all inspired by classic cartoons. We have squishy bases filled with various colors of glitter mixes all with cute names based off of quotes or iconic lines from classic cartoons.

If y’all aren’t familiar with a crelly formula – it’s right in between a cream and a jelly formula (cream + jelly = crelly). So they’re going to be more sheer, especially to allow pieces in the formula to layer and build up and peek through and create this dimensional look! Overall it’s about building up the base color, but there’s enough pigment to that base that it will build up to full opacity, rather than the squishy look of a true jelly.

As mentioned I have 5 of the new 10 shades to swatch up for you today! These are all available on the Glam Polish website. Let’s get on into the swatches!

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Essie Valentine’s Day 2023 Collection – Swatches & Review

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It’s another February, and so that means another Valentine’s Day collection from Essie (no you’re NOT reading this after Valentine’s Day is already past, idk what you’re talking about). China Glaze has us covered for Halloween, and Essie has us for Valentine’s. We’re slowly getting covered for every major holiday, and next up, I’m expecting greens for St. Patrick’s, thank you very much.

ANYWAYS, as always, Essie has blessed us with another 6 piece collection to help us celebrate love. Nail polish will always be #1 in my heart (and okay, fine I guess my boyfriend too) so of course I’m excited to have even more to put on my fingers. Let’s talk about these shades.

Since Essie has done many a Valentine’s release by this point, we’ve gone through quite a lot of pinks and reds. So for this one, they venture on down into some “non-traditional” Valentine’s shades, like rich blues, dusty purples and some gorgeous shimmers. AND I’M NOT MAD AT IT. I’m a lover of all colors, I welcome them all, and we’re here to celebrate Love Day with any shade. They also of course have the little bottle detailing – with some little flames and hearts wrapped around the bottom of the cap. Cute as always.

I purchased these from Ulta (and yes, dealt with their lack of padding for glass nail bottles again), and I’m sure you can find them at other various drugstores like Target, CVS or Walgreens. Ulta still has them in stock and shipping if you don’t feel like hunting them down.

Alright, enough talking, let’s get right into the swatches!

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OPI Nature Strong New Shades 2023 – Swatches & Review

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OPI recently released 8 new shades in their Nature Strong line. I’ve never tried the line, so I figured this was a perfect time (and excuse) to pick up the shades and see what it’s about! And I’m sure you’re curious as well, as anyone is when a brand has separate lines going on.

Now the ‘Nature Strong’ line is just what it sounds like. It’s OPI’s first “natural origin nail lacquer”, made from “plant based ingredients sourced from nature”. They say it’s vegan, cruelty free and 9-free, while still being long lasting and drying with a high shine finish. Plant based nail lines are a new trend, with China Glaze and Essie also hopping on and releasing their own versions as well. Now, I have no idea what percentage of these formulas are the natural plant based ingredients, I’m just reading those claims for ya here.

Of course, with any of these I don’t wear the polishes long enough to speak to the wear time claim – and that time can vary from person to person as well, based on their specific body chemistry – but I am here to talk about the formula and application!

These specific 8 shades, as well as the previously released shades are all available Polishpick.com. They’re also available from Beyond Polish as well (code: GingerlyPolished gets you 10% at BP. It is an affiliate link/code, so I will earn a small commission from any purchase, no pressure as always!)

Alright, let’s get on into the swatches!

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Glam Polish ‘Nevermore’ Collection – Swatches & Review

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Hello, your Glam Polish guide here, with our monthly collection! Glam Polish releases 1-2 new sets a month, and I know that can be hard to keep up with. Please don’t try to keep up with it – unless you’re rich, then more power to you. Either way I’m here to show you each shade that I’m lucky enough to receive (it’s not ALL of them, but at least a solid amount), so y’all can pick and choose which lucky shades will make it into your cart. I’m here to show you the formulas and colors so you’re a more informed Glam Polish buyer in the future! (And their collections always stay around for a while, so you have time to truly consider and pick and choose. No rushing needed, combine some collections, save on shipping).

ALRIGHT. So let’s talk about these newest shades.

This is the ‘Nevermore’ collection, and it’s inspired by the new Wednesday show that released on Netflix! Now I haven’t watched the show, but I get the general vibe of it, and I think we’re matching it here. (You tell me). We’ve got 6 shades of blacks, deep purples and blues, along with some lighter crellies for the more sunshine side character I’ve seen so much about. They work well together as opposites, and I just love the colors. As always with any Glam Polish release, we have a variety of finishes and formulas, so a little something for everyone. (Or if these shades don’t jive with you, there are plenty more collections on the way!)

Last info, these are of course available on the Glam Polish website both in a bundle and individually! Okay, I’m done, now let’s get right into the swatches!

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Essie ‘(Un)guilty Pleasures’ Collection – Swatches & Review

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It’s TIME. It’s the start of NEW ESSIE collections for 2023. And if any other years are an indicator, we’ll have a LOT of collections and releases and I’ll do my best to keep them all straight and reviewed for you – at least with the regular lacquer. I can’t be throwing the Expressie and Gel Couture lines in there too, I’m not made of money. But regular lacquer will keep us more than busy, there are already 4 collections out that I know of, WE GOTTA GO, GO, GO. (Of course, I always say, choose based on your own preferences and budget and likes, no need to buy every collection like I do, I do it to review and help y’all out here).

So let’s look at this first one. This is the ‘(Un)guilty Pleasures’ collection. This one features 6 rich and saturated cream shades, all with a theme around self-care and relaxing. I’m never mad at that idea.

I purchased this set at a discount from Beyond Polish. (exciting, this is now an affiliate link! Which means if you click on that and purchase through it, I’ll receive a little commission. You can use GINGERLYPOLISHED for 10% off your order as well – on regular priced items, not the bundle, but no pressure either way! You can just go to Beyond Polish’s website on its own. I wouldn’t link to any websites I don’t use and trust and love myself). Beyond Polish does also have an Essie bundle that gives you a little discount as well if you’re not comfortable using my code! It’s my go-to place to buy Essie at this point, as they have great prices. But of course, if you want to see them in person or grab a few shades without shipping, they’re also available at Target.

You’ll be seeing me so much for future Essie posts as well, so let’s get right into these gorgeous shades and swatches!

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KB Shimmer ‘Northern Exposure’ Collection – Swatches & Review

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I’ve been dipping my toes on into a few indie brands now (but I’ll still be reviewing mainly mainstream collections as it’s easier for me to buy those on a discount). I knew of KB Shimmer and had seen them around the Instagram community, and had their name in the back of my brain, just waiting for just the right collection. And when they released the promos and when I saw all of these shades together, I just couldn’t resist, and added them to my little cart. I mean, I’m sure you’ll feel the same once you see the polishes. It’s just been so gray and cold here, I had to treat myself with some nail polish, what else is new.

This is the ‘Northern Exposure’ collection and it features 9 gorgeous sparkly and shifty shades in more rich and moody colors. We have 3 shimmery multichromes, 2 magnetics and 4 reflective glitter shades, so you’re not getting any boring creams in this set. (I say that as a joke, I love cream polishes so dang much, but every so often I’m here to switch it up).

It’s available on the KB Shimmer website as well as on the Beyond Polish website.

These are all absolutely stunning, so let’s get right into the swatches already!

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ILNP ‘Trapped’ Collection – Swatches & Review

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Listen, this blog will always be mostly mainstream and drugstore nail polish reviews (and hopefully some more affordable makeup reviews again soon). The polishes are (somewhat) cheaper overall (though they do try to keep raising up in price), and also easier to buy discounted from supply websites (polishpick.com truly saves me). But I have been lucky enough, as I gain a little more of a polish budget each year, to slowly wade in and try out a few new-to-me indie brands. I do wish I had the time and money to review every single brand of polish, but at this point I still have to be selective. I just have to be patient and have self control and wait for the collection to truly catch my eye. (Not that every indie brand out there doesn’t release gorgeous collections all the time, but you get what I mean).

So this collection was one that truly captured my eye and pulled me in, and it was just the right time to purchase. ILNP had already been a brand that had been circling around the edge of my radar, from other Instagram friends posting previous shades and swatches, so it met all of my criteria and made the perfect jumping off point for my first full collection purchase.

This is the ILNP ‘Trapped’ collection. This was a Halloween release, and with that we have 6 vampy, shifty and sparkly shades, with a lot of dark bases and contrasting shimmers. (In my opinion, more brands need to release Halloween collections, thank you very much.)

I did originally swatch these up and post them on my Instagram in November (another shoutout to follow me there as you see swatches earlier most often), but you know, my whole 2023 goal of working to catch up and make sure every polish collection gets it’s matching blog post. This collection is still readily available on the ILNP website and not going anywhere soon, so you can also still get your little hands on them whenever you end up reading this post.

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ILNP ‘NYE’ 2022 Collection – Swatches & Review

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2022, especially in the later months, was a time where I was lucky enough to be able to expand out my roster of brands and dip my toes into more indie brands. One of those brands was ILNP. They fully grabbed me with their Halloween release, Trapped. After that, I had my eye on them. I did end up skipping on their Winter Wonderland release (though as I’m looking at it again, it IS gorgeous…). Now I won’t be reviewing every single indie brand (I wish I had the budget and time for that), and I’ll still be here for mostly mainstream and drugstore brands, but listen, we love to add some unique little indie polishes into the mix every so often. And ILNP has truly been releasing some beautiful shades.

For this newest review, we’re looking at the ‘NYE’ collection. This comes after their winter release, so it’s truly more of full New Years Eve release and look and theming. So with that it features 6 super sparkly and flashy shades perfect for watching the ball drop (hey that’s even a shade name!). We have 5 full color polishes and then one iridescent topper, and all of your glitter needs will be covered with this one, whether it’s for a celebration or when you’re reading this review in the middle of January.

These lovely shades are available on the ILNP website. Now I’ll let the sparkle speak for itself, let’s get on into the swatches!

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Glam Polish ‘Even More Enchanted’ Collection (5 Shades) – Swatches & Review

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I’ve been so lucky to have been receiving products from Glam Polish for a while now and it’s been a truly great way to try out their unique and interesting shades and formulas! (Of course you know my drill, that doesn’t sway my reviews at all, you would see in my live swatch videos if things were terrible). They’re a fun indie brand giving lots of polishes and finishes that you won’t find from the mainstream brands too often.

And now listen, I’ll also be the first to say they release A LOT. It’s about a collection or two a month at this point which can be a lot to keep up with – if I wasn’t receiving PR I wouldn’t be able to keep up at all (not that you need to keep up at all either). So I’m hoping my posts and swatches – of even half a release – can help you out and make it easier to decide when browsing their large selection of polishes. Someone’s gotta help you keep them all straight here, and maybe even make a few recommendations here and there. If you’ve been interested in trying out their shades I’m hoping you can eventually browse through all of my Glam posts and make a more informed decision!

So let’s start with this current collection on my desk. This newest release is the ‘Even More Enchanted’ release, and it’s inspired by the latest Disney sequel, Disenchanted. It’s the sequel to Enchanted, which originally came out in 2007 (15 year ago!!) with Amy Adams and James Marsden. I did love that movie and found it truly delightful, so I was definitely intrigued hearing about a new sequel. I haven’t watched it yet, but it’s on my list – have you seen it?

Anyways, they released 10 new shades for this release, which is typical for Glam’s larger collections. I do only have 5 of the 10 to show you, but I’m sure these swatches will still be helpful so I wanted to get to posting them up! These, along with the 5 other shades, are now available on the Glam Polish website – where you can buy the whole bundle or individual shades.

Let’s dive on into the swatches.

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Zoya ‘Hypnotic’ & ‘Y2K’ Trios for Winter 2022 – Swatches & Review

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We’re continuing right along with the blog post catch up, and reviews of the mainstream Winter polish releases! So let’s look at Zoya! (That’s right, that’s all I’ve got for an intro, we don’t need the rambling here. Maybe it’s because I feel productivity running through my veins).

In lieu of the traditional 6 piece collection for the winter season, Zoya released 2 trios. The two trios feature ‘Hypnotic’ which features 3 deeper, vampy jewel-toned shimmers, for when you just want to be seductive and mysterious in these snowy days. And then there’s ‘Y2K’, which features 3 jelly, sparkly polishes in brighter 2000s colors, when you just need some fun and sparkle throughout all the gray. (Why does it remind me of that scene from Parks & Rec with Andy & April “someone will die” “of fun!” Pls tell me you know that reference and what I mean). Overall, super interesting to go for 2 trios instead of one full cohesive collection, and it gives you choices for 2 distinct nail moods to choose from.

I grabbed both of these trios from the Zoya website during their amazing Black Friday sale – both trios, the Hypnotic, and the Y2K trios are still available to purchase there (and they’ll probably eventually make their way to the Beyond Polish website if you want to wait for even more of a discount).

So enough talking, let’s dive right into the swatches!

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